Agricultures, Foods, News & Event
Agro-fishery exports welcome the opportunity to ‘boom’ when China opens its border
China’s lifting of COVID-19 control orders at border gates has important implications for many agricultural products of Vietnam. This is considered good news in the new year 2023, of course, Vietnamese businesses need to quickly prepare to take advantage of this opportunity.
According to information from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, on December 28, the General Administration of Customs of China issued a notice with a number of contents related to import and export goods. Accordingly, the relevant provinces (autonomous regions) carry out the resumption of cargo clearance and passenger transport at border gates in an orderly and stable manner according to classification and sequence.
Seafood exports expected to ‘boom’
In particular, from January 8, 2023, the country’s customs authority will also remove all nucleic acid testing measures for COVID-19 prevention at border gates for imported goods, including frozen goods cold.
China’s opening of the border and the complete lifting of testing and isolation measures to prevent the COVID-19 epidemic is considered a great opportunity for Vietnam’s agricultural and aquatic exports.
Mr. Le Ba Anh, Deputy Director of the Department of Agro-Forestry and Fisheries Quality Management (MARD), said that since 2004, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has signed an agreement with China on cooperation in food safety control with China. seafood products. Currently, the Chinese side recognizes 802 seafood enterprises to export to China; In the opposite direction, Vietnam has also recognized 780 Chinese enterprises to export seafood to Vietnam.
Despite difficulties in exporting seafood, especially the “Zero Covid” policy, in 2022, seafood exports to the Chinese market will still increase strongly, with export turnover doubling.
According to Mr. Le Ba Anh, China’s implementation of the “Zero Covid” regime makes seafood exports to this market difficult. The “Zero Covid” policy has blocked all “fresh” seafood, which are mainly high-value items such as live crabs, lobsters, white shrimp and black tiger shrimp. Therefore, when China opens its border, it will facilitate seafood, which is expected to increase sharply.
At the same time, the consumption power of the Chinese market is expected to increase. When China opens, your restaurants will reopen, which means that high-end and live seafood products will increase sharply.
Along with that are aquatic products, if previously exported by sea to the port and are subject to inspection on the container wall and packaging. It takes about 2 weeks to check and if it is detected, the export business will be suspended. With China’s new policy, all the above complicated procedures will be abolished, exporting seafood to the Chinese market will be very convenient.
Will diversify official products to China
Business representative, Ms. Le Hang, Communications Director of the Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), assessed that, in the context of rising global inflation, China will be the most potential destination for businesses. Vietnam’s seafood industry in 2023 thanks to explosive demand, close geographical location, lower logistics costs and risks than other markets. “When China opens up, the demand for seafood will explode while the country’s domestic raw materials are difficult to meet because of the heavy impact of the COVID-19 epidemic,” Hang assessed.
In export items, Ms. Le Hang said, pangasius will be more profitable than shrimp because businesses have existing trade relations with Chinese partners, Vietnamese pangasius can fill the gap between white fish from the US and China. Russia in the context of political conflict has not yet come to an end.
As for the shrimp segment, China imports a large amount, but it is difficult for Vietnamese shrimp to compete in China in both the high-end and raw materials segments. Therefore, enterprises mainly export value-added products to other potential markets such as Japan, EU…
With meat and dairy products, Mr. Nguyen Van Long, Director of the Department of Animal Health, said that currently, there are 9 factories of 7 dairy companies that are exported to China with a turnover increase of about 50% in the year. 2022. Especially, after nearly 4 years of negotiations, Vietnam has signed the Protocol to export bird’s nest to China.
The Department of Animal Health has issued a 7-step guide for businesses wishing to export oats to China. Currently, there are 5 enterprises sending dossiers to the Department of Animal Health to apply for export permits. All process of completing procedures is being accelerated, hopefully in early 2023, the first batch of bird’s nest will be exported to China.
In particular, the Department of Animal Health also said that it is coordinating with the Chinese side to build a safe area to prevent foot and mouth disease, after the Vietnamese side has built it, the two sides will come to sign an agreement. This is a necessary condition for the official export of pigs and cattle to China. Along with that, the Department of Animal Health is accelerating the export process of chicken and processed products to China…
According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien, the opening of China – a market of more than 1.4 billion people is very important for the agricultural industry. Therefore, the agricultural industry needs to quickly prepare a source of quality raw materials and goods to make the most of the opportunities as soon as the above market is fully open.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry and Trade recommends that businesses and localities, especially those with agricultural production areas focused on exporting to the Chinese market, need to continue to actively update information on the situation of goods through public transport. customs through border gates; Work closely with the northern border provinces in coordinating the flow of export goods through the area.